POW: Cobbs Takes Home Pac-12 Honors

Ryan Gorcey

02/03/2014

Cobbs ties record with fifth Pac-12 Player of the Week award thanks to redemptive performance against No. 1 Arizona.

One day, you're the hero; the next day, you're the goat. No week could better exemplify that aphorism than the one had by California fifth-year senior Justin Cobbs, who missed the potential dagger on Wednesday against Arizona State, allowing the Sun Devils to pull off an overtime win at Haas Pavilion, but then hitting the game-winner with 0.9 seconds left against heretofore undefeated and No. 1 Arizona just three nights later.

The senior from Los Angeles, Calif., averaged 20.0 points, 5.0 assists and 2.0 steals in the Bears' two games this week. Cobbs scored 21 points and had three steals to go along with three assists.in Wednesday's loss to Arizona State, going 4-for-4 in the final seven minutes of regulation to give the Bears the lead with 35 seconds left. But, up by three and a defensive stand away from a win, Cal allowed a game-tying three with 17 seconds left. Still, though the Bears had one more chance to get the ball into Cobbs' hands. Cobbs took the in-bounds pass, stopped just above the three-point line, dribbling and eyeing the game clock. With four seconds left, he eschewed an entry pass to Richard Solomon and pulled up for a jumper, which clanked off the iron and sent the game into overtime, where he went silent.

On Saturday, Cobbs roared loud and clear, leading Cal to a 60-58 upset victory over No. 1 Arizona with a game-high 19 points and five assists against the Wildcats. Tied at 58-58, Cobbs connected on a long, fade-away jumper to seal the win over Arizona big man Kaleb Tarczewski. He scored 16 of his 19 points against Arizona in the second half.

With his point total for the week, Cobbs is now 19th on the Bears' all-time scoring list with 1,269 career points in his third season in Berkeley.

This is the fifth-career weekly honor for Cobbs, which ties the record for most weekly selections for a Cal student-athlete, with former Bear Ed Gray also receiving five awards over the course of his career. He is now one of only 14 Pac-12 players to earn five or more player of the week nods. Most recently, Cobbs was voted Pac-12 Men's Basketball Player of the Week earlier this year on Jan. 13. It is the 52nd total selection for California all-time.